Don't underestimate a Woman, She may know martial arts.

Here is some great feedback from Japan on the growth of Women training in the home of Karate.

A growing number of women, especially those in their 30s or older, are increasingly enjoying martial arts. Are they seeking effective self-defence techniques due to deteriorating public safety? Not necessarily. Many appear to believe they can acquire better mental stability as a result of tough martial arts training.
With loud kiai yells, a barage of powerful punches and kicks released by two dozen advanced karate students cut rapidly through the air at a dojo in Shinjuku, Tokyo, one Saturday evening.
Among the school's well-built men, you will spot several smaller physiques belonging to the female blackbelt students. Contrary to expectation that women practicing karate would be young and athletic, they are in their 40s and 50s, and most have no prior martial arts or sports experience.
"I joined this school with my three kids," said Chieri Takayama, 52, who has been practicing karate for about a decade and is now a second-degree blackbelt. "My husband wanted our kids to practice karate, but they were very small then, so I had to be with them in class and that's why I started karate."
However, she has never felt intimidated in class because the instructors use polite language and never push her beyond her limit, she said.
"Through hard training, I have become not only physically stronger but also mentally stable and able to control my anger," she added. "I would like to keep practicing karate as long as possible. The beauty of karate is that you can keep sharpening your techniques even as you get older."
For Kazuko Matsumoto, 44, a first-dan blackbelt, getting healthy was the primary reason to start practicing karate.
"I fell sick in my late 30s and had to go to the hospital regularly," Matsumoto recalled. "I wanted to regain my health and I also was very much interested in kata [forms]."
Karate has restored her health and makes her way of thinking more positive, according to Matsumoto. "Now I know my thinking will stay positive as long as I continue practicing karate," she said. "Also, karate class gives me experiences totally different from my normal day-to-day life and helps relieve stress and refresh me."
According to all Karate instructors, the number of female students started increasing about 10 years ago.
Now about 30 percent are women . There are two groups of women practicing karate. One group is young and started karate when they were in high school or college and kept practicing even after they started working. The other group comprises housewives who initially just sent their children to class but eventually became interested in karate themselves.
Asked if middle-aged housewives in average shape can really keep up with the intense training, Nishida Sensei in the Tokyo dojo said he is trying to make his class one that even such people can handle.
"In some ways, women are physically stronger than men," Nishida said. "Female members also have better attendance rates than their male counterparts. That enables them to obtain a black belt in three years or so, while male members take five or six years on average."
While karate is a traditional Japanese martial art, some women are interested in martial arts recently imported to Japan from the other countries, such as Russia.
Aya Watanabe, a 38-year-old graphic designer in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, is now practicing Systema three times a week. The martial art was initially restricted to the elite soldiers of the Spetsnaz or Soviet special forces.
"I had never practiced any martial art before," Watanabe said. "I love exercise but didn't want to be a member of any school sports club because there's usually a tight pecking order among members."
About two years ago, however, her boyfriend took her to a Systema class in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. There, she found the atmosphere was very relaxed, and even heard some laughter in the class, although the training was physically very challenging.
Systema is a comprehensive martial arts system that includes punching, kicking, throwing, grappling and using weapons. It began to be taught internationally only after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"I was impressed that an Australian instructor was unpretentious and told me to come back again after the first lesson," said Watanabe, who is the only female among about 50 members of Systema's Tokyo branch at present.
"Shortly after I started practicing Systema, I've got six-pack abs and bigger arms," she also said. "But, with my body changing, my mind is also getting stronger. Now I seldom become emotional and crack under pressure in my work."
In a recent class, she was pinned under five or six men and told to wriggle out from under them.
Watanabe said she would go on until she is old enough to be called "Grandma."
"Even then, I hope I can stay strong enough and flexible enough to knock out the average high school boy," Watanabe laughed.
Until next post,
Yours in Karate do,

Shihan


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